The AOP’s four-day festival kicks off at the Old Truman Brewery

Beyond the Lens includes advice from prominent photography commissioners, a portfolio review, and insights on everything from building a brand to making moving content

How do those who commission photography pick up on trends, and where do they find the people they work with? Find out more on Monday with the AOP, the UK’s largest organisation for commercial photographers, in a debate that includes Mike Trow, picture editor at Vogue; senior art buyer Sarah Williams; Tim Paton, global head of commercial assignments at Magnum Photos; Chantal Webber of Webber Represents; and the award winning photographers David Loftus and Tim Flach.

The debate is part of the AOP’s four-day Beyond the Lens festival, which kicks off today at The Old Truman Brewery. Other debates include a session on photography education and another on contemporary food photography; the festival also includes talks by photographers such as Giles Duley, whose exhibitionI Can Only Tell You What I See is currently on show in the Old Truman Brewery, and Chris Floyd, whose photography and films are shown in publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Harpers Bazaar, GQ, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, and Wallpaper*.

The festival also includes a portfolio review, including Sarah Thompson, an art buyer and producer with Creative Blood, and Charles Laird, agent and producer with Sarah Laird & Good Company; plus business advice on building a brand, making moving-image content, and exhibiting and selling prints.